California Students Show Continued Increase in Academic Achievement and Graduation Rates, Reduction in Chronic Absenteeism with Release of 2025 School Dashboard

SACRAMENTO—Today, the California Department of Education (CDE) published the 2025 California School Dashboard and corresponding data files on DataQuest, showing that students continue to see improved outcomes across all key indicators of student success.

The 2025 Dashboard shows that:

• California’s graduation rate has continued to make steady, modest progress and is now at its highest since the launch of the California School Dashboard in 2017—87.5 percent, up 4.5 percentage points since 2017.
• Graduation rates show accelerated progress for many specific student groups, representing a narrowing of gaps between student groups: a 4.1 percentage point increase for Pacific Islander students, a 3.5 percentage point increase for African American students, a 3.3 percentage point increase for Long-Term English Learners, a 2.8 percentage point increase for foster youth, and a 2.7 percent percentage point increase for students with disabilities.
• College and career readiness has also increased by 3.1 percentage points statewide, reaching a level of 51.7 percent of graduates statewide who were prepared for college and career by their high school, 53.9 percent of graduates met California’s A-G course requirements, which is the uniform minimum set of courses required for admission to California public universities.
• The rate of chronic absenteeism for TK–8 students continues to improve. The 2025 statewide rate of 17.1 percent represents an improvement of more than 10 percentage points from an all-time high of 30 percent in 2022. The overall reduction in chronic absenteeism is 1 percentage point since 2024. The slowing of this statewide improvement indicates there is strategic work to be done to successfully reengage the students and families who remain chronically absent.
• As reflected in the October release of assessment data, academic achievement has also made modest progress.

Notably, for the first time in the history of the Dashboard, all indicators are “yellow” or “green,” reflecting that all key student outcomes are showing improvement. Colors on the Dashboard are based on both status and progress since the previous year.

This continued improvement of all student outcomes follows significant investments in TK–12 education championed by Superintendent Thurmond and Governor Newsom, including Community Schools, Expanded Learning, Universal Meals, and Literacy Coaches and Reading Specialists.

“Seeing modest improvement on every Dashboard indicator should encourage us to deepen our investments in every child’s progress,” said State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond. “We can see that strategies like community schools and literacy coaches are making a positive impact for the whole child. I am proud of our work to narrow persistent achievement gaps in student outcomes like graduation rate, and we must not rest until all students’ outcomes represent their brilliance and potential.”

“The more we can invest time, energy, and resources into our kids, the better their future can be,” said Governor Gavin Newsom. “And whether that future consists of college or a good job, in California, we are going to continue our work to ensure students and educators have the resources they need to be successful. So, while these Dashboard results are important and show progress, we know there’s more to do to take achievement to the next level.”

“Today’s Dashboard results show California continuing to make important strides in post-pandemic recovery—we’re getting more students reengaged in the classroom, graduating students in greater numbers, and getting more of them prepared for college and careers,” said California State Board of Education President Linda Darling-Hammond. “And, as we saw with the recent release of statewide assessment data, our students are making strong progress academically as well. We know there is still much work to do in the years ahead to continue this progress, but these results are an encouraging start.”

This year’s Dashboard illustrates progress being made in many school districts across California. These significant increases in student achievement tell a story about how targeted state investments and key programs can create a blueprint for how further acceleration of academic progress could occur statewide.

Examples of state and local investments at work to improve student outcomes include:

The Culver City Unified School District

Serves a population of more than 6,500 students and boasts a 97.2 percent graduation rate following a 3.6 percentage point increase over the past year. According to Superintendent Alfonso Jiménez, the district has achieved this graduation rate through the hard work of educators and school staff, including mental health counselors at the district’s middle and high schools, as well as very experienced teachers with a high level of professionalism. Jiménez noted the district’s strong focus on the whole child. Through this whole child approach, Culver City has elevated the importance of social–emotional learning, while also emphasizing the importance of working with families and amplifying student voice.

In his time with the district, Jiménez has utilized a data-driven approach to maximize the impact of state funding, including the use of Expanded Learning Opportunities funding, Learning Recovery Emergency Block Grant funding, and Literacy Coaches and Reading Specialists funding to drive student achievement. Culver City Unified also has a strong college and career center with counselors and a technician on staff. Through these cumulative efforts, the district has not only generated growth in their impressive graduation rate, but has also generated growth in academic achievement: ELA scores have increased by 5 points, math scores have increased by 6.6 points, and college and career readiness has increased by 3.1 percentage points.

The Healdsburg Unified School District (HUSD)

Serves a population of 1,236 students, which reflects an increase in enrollment from last year. 66.4 percent of the district’s students are socioeconomically disadvantaged and 15.1 percent are English learners. HUSD generated an increase of 7.2 percentage points in their graduation rate over one year, for a 2025 graduation rate of 96.7 percent. The district has also generated impressive gains in their academic outcomes for two years in a row, in addition to significantly improving their graduation rate and college and career readiness this year. According to this year’s Dashboard results, Healdsburg has increased ELA scores by 13.9 points, increased math scores by 4.2 points, and increased college and career readiness by 17 percentage points.

Superintendent Chris Vanden Heuvel credits this progress to the hard work of students, staff, and educators, and attributed this success to a number of district initiatives, in particular, the work to implement professional learning communities that prescriptively focus on instruction. This multiyear ongoing effort has been made possible through funding from the California Educator Effectiveness and Student Support and Professional Development grants. Furthermore, Vanden Heuvel credited the District’s focus on social–emotional wellness as a key strategy that has removed obstacles to learning. Through the use of the Learning Recovery Emergency Block Grant, as well as the Children and Youth Behavioral Health Initiative grants, the district has been able to employ mental health specialists who provide counseling services to students at all school sites. Vanden Heuvel stated that the counseling team and this comprehensive approach to student support systems have made a huge difference in helping students be more ready to learn every day.

The Dinuba Unified School District

Serves a population of more than 6,000 students, 82.6 percent of whom are socioeconomically disadvantaged and 27.6 percent of whom are English learners. According to Superintendent Marti Kochevar and Director of Intervention Lisa Benslay, the district achieved a 5.9 percentage point increase in their graduation rate for an overall 2025 graduation rate of 95.5 percent by making systemic changes and committing to them. Making all district employees feel valued and supported has enabled the team to put all its focus on students. Kochevar and Benslay cited the many career technical education courses offered at the district’s schools as an important driver of student success, saying that “there’s something for everyone.”

Dinuba Unified also leveraged Community Schools grant funding—combined with other funding sources—to engage school communities, get kids back to class, and provide counseling for students who need it. The results speak for themselves—Dinuba has also generated strong progress on their students’ academic indicators over the past year: ELA scores have increased by 10.1 points, math scores have increased by 5.8 points, and college and career readiness has increased by 7 percentage points.

The New Haven Unified School District (NHUSD)

Serves approximately 10,000 students, 58.2 percent of whom are socioeconomically disadvantaged and 16 percent of whom are English learners. NHUSD generated a 4.7 percentage point increase in their graduation rate for a 2025 rate of 92.0 percent. This year also marks the second consecutive increase in the district’s graduation rate. Along with the hard work and commitment of students and staff, this progress reflects the district’s implementation of consistent academic credit monitoring, proactive early intervention systems, and close collaboration with families. The expansion of educational pathways has also helped ensure that every student has a clear and supported route to graduation. These improvements were made possible through multiple state funding sources that supported strategic program design and implementation.

The 2025 Dashboard results for New Haven Unified also show strong progress in mathematics, with average student scores increasing by 11 points since last year. Superintendent John Thompson credits this growth to the dedication of students, educators, and staff, as well as to the district’s intentional use of targeted instructional practices that expand equitable access to rigorous coursework. Supported by the Educator Effectiveness Block Grant, the Learning Recovery Emergency Block Grant, and other state funding, NHUSD prioritized math achievement through its partnership with University of California Davis C-STEM, where students learn mathematics through coding and robotics to build problem-solving and conceptual understanding. Educators have also worked collaboratively to strengthen course alignment and use student performance data to improve support for all learners.

The continued improvement visible in the 2025 School Dashboard data comes as a result of California’s continued prioritization of investing in K–12 public education, with a focus on accelerating learning and prioritizing equity. The 2024 Budget Act provided $133.8 billion in total K–12 education funding—the highest per-pupil state funding ever for California students.

Additionally, the state has invested billions to expand access to Transitional Kindergarten for tens of thousands of four-year-old children to improve kindergarten readiness and long-term student outcomes. The most recent state budget allocated an additional $215 million to build on previous investments in the Literacy Coaches and Reading Specialists Grant Program, which supports the development of school literacy programs and interventions to help pupils in need of targeted literacy support.

The California School Dashboard is a key component of the state’s school accountability system, which includes the latest data on graduation rates, suspension rates, test scores, English Learner progress, the college/career indicator, chronic absenteeism, and local indicators.

In conjunction with the California School Dashboard data release, the California Department of Education is also releasing several 2024–25 reports on DataQuest, the California Department of Education’s web-based data reporting system for publicly reporting information about California students, teachers, and schools. DataQuest reports in this release include data on four-year graduation rates, five-year graduation rates, suspension rates, expulsion rates, chronic absenteeism rates, absenteeism by reason, stability rates, and homeless student enrollment.

More information about the California School Dashboard is available on the California Department of Education Dashboard Resources web page.

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Tony Thurmond — State Superintendent of Public Instruction
Communications Division, Room 5602, 916-319-0818, Fax 916-319-0100